Wheel-painting machine.



No. 796,442. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

E. L. MORAN.

WHEEL PAINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1905.

Wi$nessea I 1737/ 6721501" W x? 7%WW w, OW gjj p UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

EDWARD L. MORAN, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES A. \NILLEY, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.'

WHEEL-PAINTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed January 23, 1905. Serial No. 242,341.

T0 at whom, it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. MORAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheel-Painting Machines,

of which the following is a full, clear, and.

exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to machines for the painting of wheels, in whichthe wheel is mounted on an endwise-movable shaft within a tank partiallyfilled with the paint to be applied and in which mechanism is providedfor reciprocating the shaft to coat the wheel and then to rotate thewheel to cause the paint to flow over every portion thereof. Heretoforein such wheel-painting machines mechanism has been provided for rotatingthe shaft in one direction only and no provision has been made forproperly controlling and varying the speed of the rotating shaft.

My invention therefore consists of that certain novel construction andarrangement of parts, to be hereinafter particularly pointed out andclaimed, whereby the wheel-carrying shaft be rotated in either directionor its rotation reversed, as desired, and in which the speed of theshaft may be varied at will, so that when desired the wheel may berotated very slowly when immersed in the coating material and thematerial properly agitated and mixed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved machine with thewheel in place. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of same, partly in verticalsection. Fig. 3 is a detail of the speed-controlling and shiftingmechanism.

1 is a cylindrical tank of suitable diameter and depth to convenientlyhold the wheel 2 to be painted either in or out of the paint. This tankis supported at a convenient height from the floor by standards or legs3 3. The central portion of the bottom of the tank is provided with asemispherical plate 4, and extending vertically through the center ofthis plate is an endwise-movable shaft 5. 6 is a suitable stufiing-boxfor this shaft. Extending upward from the shaft 5 a sufficient distanceto conveniently receive the hub of the wheel is a spindle 7, and 8 is afork mounted on the end of the shaft 5 within the tank and merses thewheel in the paint.

held inproper position by the set-screw 9. The outer ends of the forkare provided with knobs 10, and the wheel 2 is held in position on theshaft to rotate and move with it, as hereinafter described, by settingthe hub on the spindle 7 and allowing the ends of the fork to embracethe spokes on opposite sides.

The shaft 5 is driven in either direction by the frictiongear,consisting of the clutchsleeve 28, feathered to slide on the shaft 5 inthe keyway 11 and carrying the beveled disks 12 and 13, fast thereon,which mesh with the driving-pinion 21, preferably formed of compressedpaper or other suitable material, to.

frictionally engage and rotate either of the disks 12 or 13,. and thusto rotate the shaft in either direction as either of the disks isbrought into contact with the driving-pinion 21 by shifting thehand-lever 17, which is pivoted in a suitable support 16 on the frameand has bolted to its outer end the shifter-fork 15, carrying thebeveled rollers 14 14, which engage in the groove between the disks 12and 13 on the clutch-sleeve 28. The driving-pinion 21 is mounted on theend of the drivingshaft 18, provided with the usual tight and loosepulleys 19 and 20 for driving same from suitable power.

The lower end of the shaft 5 is provided with a collar 22, adjustablethereon by a setscrew to vary the throw of the shaft, and this collar isengaged by the shoe 23, pivoted to the end of thelever 24. Lugs 25 areprovided on the shoe to engage the upper surface of the collar 22, sothat by the hand-lever 24 the shaft 5 may be moved in both directions.The lever 24 is pivoted in the support 26, depending from thecross-piece of the frame. The two operating-levers 17 and 24 are guidedby the sector-frame 27, and notches are provided. in this frame to lockthe levers in any desired position.

In using the machine the tank 1 is first partly filled with the desiredpaint or coating material. The shaft 5 is then raised by depressing thehand-lever 24 and looking it down. The wheel to be painted is thenplaced on the spindle 7 and held in position by the fork 8. The lever 24is then returned to its upright position, which draws down the shaft 5and im- If desired, the lever 17 can then be operated slightly to obtaina slight friction clutch between either of the beveled disks'12 or 13and the cone-pinion, so as to give a very slow movement to thewheel touse it as an agitator or mixer of the paint. In either event as soon asthe wheel is coated thelever 24 is depressed, which raises the shaft 5,and the wheel is raised out of the paint. The lever 24 is then lookeddown and the lever 17 operated to bring the disk 12 in engagement withthe pinion to rotate the wheel in one direction very rapidly, and thisengagement is then released and the lower disk 13 is brought intoengagement with the pinion and the wheel rotated rapidly in the oppositedirection. The other disk 12 is then used to serve as a brake to stopthe rotation of the shaft, and the wheel is removed and another onesubstituted for further operation.

I have found that by rotating the wheel rapidly first in one directionand then in the other the flow of the coating material is much more eventhan it is when the wheel is only rotated in one direction. Thefriction-clutch gearing also forms a very important part of myinvention. I am able to rotate the wheel slowly while in the paint andalso to start and stop the rapid rotation when the wheel has been raisedfrom the paint slowly and smoothly.

Without any jerking or wear and tear on the mechanism.

In order that it maynot be necessary to clean out the tank when a paintof one color has been used to make use of another color, I provide oneor more tanks similar to tank 1, with an opening in the center, butwithout the semispherical central portion 1. By loosening the bolts bywhich the tank 1 is secured to the central portion 4 these additionaltanks, which are of somewhat less diameter than the tank 1, can be in amoment secured in place. The additional tanks are of slightly-smallerdiameter, so that they can be easily located within tank 1, and thecentral opening in these additional tanks is protected by a flangedcollar, so as to make a tight joint with the rim of the semisphericalbase 4 when bolted in place. In order to draw off the paint from thetanks, the plate 1 is provided with an eduction-pipe with suitablestop-cock therein. (Not shown.)

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a wheel-painting machine, a tank for the reception of thepaint-bath, a rotatable and shiftable shaft projecting into said tank,and upon which shaft the wheel to be painted is mounted, means forshifting said shaft to immerse and withdraw the Wheel from the bath,with mechanism for reversing the rotation of said shaft, substantiallyas described.

2. In a wheel-painting machine, a tank for the reception of thepaint-bath, a rotatable and shiftable shaft projecting into said tank,and upon which shaft the wheel to be painted is mounted, means forshifting said shaft, to

immerse and withdraw the wheel from the bath, with means forfrictionally driving said wheel-carrying shaft to operate same atvarying speeds and without jar in starting and stopping, substantiallyas described.

3. Ina wheel-painting machine, a tank for the reception of thepaint-bath, a rotatable and shiftable shaft projecting into said tank,and upon which shaft the Wheel to be painted is mounted, means forshifting said shaft, to immerse and Withdraw the Wheel from the bath, apower-driven shaft, with means for frictionally connecting same to thewheel-carrying shaft whereby varying speeds may be obtained, and saidshaft started and stopped without jarring, substantially as described.

4:. In a wheel-painting machine, a tank for the reception of thepaint-bath, a rotatable and shiftable shaft projecting into said tank,and upon which shaft the wheel to be painted is mounted, means forshifting said shaft to immerse and withdraw the wheel from the bath,with friction gear and clutch mechanism for rotating said shaft ineither direction, substantially as described.

' EDWARD L. MORAN.

Witnesses:

GLENA PRITOHARD, O. M. Roenns.

